June 7, 2016
Worship: I Will Lift My Eyes by Bebo Norman
God, my God, I cry out
Your beloved needs You now
God, be near calm my fear and take my doubt
Your kindness is what pulls me up
Your love is all that draws me in
I will lift my eyes to the Maker
of the mountains, I can't climb
I will lift my eyes to the Calmer
of the oceans raging wild
I will lift my eyes to the Healer
of the hurt, I hold inside
I will lift my eyes, lift my eyes to You
God, my God, let mercy sing
her melody over me
and God, right here all I bring
is all of me
Your kindness is what pulls me up
Your love is all that draws me in
I will lift my eyes to the Maker
of the mountains, I can't climb
I will lift my eyes to the Calmer
of the oceans raging wild
I will lift my eyes to the Healer
of the hurt, I hold inside
I will lift my eyes, lift my eyes to You
'Cause You are and You were and You will be forever
the Lover I need to save me
'Cause You fashioned the earth and You hold it together, God
so hold me now
I will lift my eyes to the Maker
of the mountains, I can't climb
I will lift my eyes to the Calmer
of the oceans raging wild
I will lift my eyes to the Healer
of the hurt, I hold inside
I will lift my eyes, lift my eyes to You
I will lift my eyes, lift my eyes to You
God, my God, I cry out
Your beloved needs You now
Your beloved needs You now
God, be near calm my fear and take my doubt
Your kindness is what pulls me up
Your love is all that draws me in
I will lift my eyes to the Maker
of the mountains, I can't climb
I will lift my eyes to the Calmer
of the oceans raging wild
I will lift my eyes to the Healer
of the hurt, I hold inside
I will lift my eyes, lift my eyes to You
God, my God, let mercy sing
her melody over me
and God, right here all I bring
is all of me
Your kindness is what pulls me up
Your love is all that draws me in
I will lift my eyes to the Maker
of the mountains, I can't climb
I will lift my eyes to the Calmer
of the oceans raging wild
I will lift my eyes to the Healer
of the hurt, I hold inside
I will lift my eyes, lift my eyes to You
'Cause You are and You were and You will be forever
the Lover I need to save me
'Cause You fashioned the earth and You hold it together, God
so hold me now
I will lift my eyes to the Maker
of the mountains, I can't climb
I will lift my eyes to the Calmer
of the oceans raging wild
I will lift my eyes to the Healer
of the hurt, I hold inside
I will lift my eyes, lift my eyes to You
I will lift my eyes, lift my eyes to You
God, my God, I cry out
Your beloved needs You now
Songwriters: INGRAM, JASON DAVID / NORMAN, JEFFREY STEPHEN
I Will Lift My Eyes lyrics © Peermusic Publishing, Universal Music Publishing Group
Video Link: https://youtu.be/Te0hy2YcLgg
Witness:
Turmoil is the word of the day. I cry out as Job did:
I
have no peace, no quietness;
I
have no rest, but only turmoil."
Job 3:26 NIV
I make no pretension that I
have it bad as Job did humanly speaking. Nor do I want to give the impression
that I am a basket case right now. On the other hand, the events of these last
few weeks and the upheaval of my schedule have caused no little stress in my
life as I referred to in my previous journal entry, and I am casting my cares
on my God, but I do wish it would all go away. I am also mad at myself for
wasting so much time yesterday. So much so that I began my quiet time after 12
AM and now my eyes are closing even as I type out this very sentence.
I got up and put away some of my clothes I washed hoping it would
wake me up. However, it was to no avail.
I’m typing again and struggling to stay awake. One thing that came to me while
hanging up my clothes was the lack of honesty with myself and anyone reading
this. I said I was casting my cares on God, but that isn’t exactly true. Sure, I
am casting from time to time, but I am also piling on
new
ones and reclaiming old ones. This is the battle we all face and I thank the Lord I have a Helper to remind
me when I am. Sleep calls me now. The sentenccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbe
I wrote above, and the preceding gibberish, are
the times I fell asleep typing. I will continue later after a time of rest.
Wow! I do not know how I wrote the above the way I did. I
understand the multiple letters in a row but not the space between words. Our
Christian walk looks like this, doesn’t it? Sometimes like coherent sentences,
sometimes in spurts, and sometimes (for many) in long strings of seemingly
unintelligent lines. The comfort I receive from Scripture is this; that when
life makes no sense, I can pour my heart out or sit silently before the Lord
and allow the Holy Spirit to intercede for me.
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.
Romans 8:26-27 NIV
What an awesome promise! There is also something here that I
haven’t noticed before, though I have read this verse so many times (yet not
enough obviously). The passage ends with these words: “the Spirit intercedes
for the saints in accordance with God's will.” Talk about a powerful
promise!! When we pray, we try to pray according to God’s will but we admit
that we don’t always know what that is and often ask amiss. The Holy Spirit
never does!!! Perhaps in times like these,
we need to be quiet and allow the Spirit to guide us in prayer. Perhaps in
times of deep agony, we need not say
anything at all but let the Spirit translate our groaning into His heavenly
groaning which is understood by our Heavenly Father and always according to His
will.
In
these situations, my faith is reignited and the promise that follows becomes
sweet again. Perhaps God has brought me to this place in order to remind me of
His benevolent sovereignty.
WORD:
Ps 25:6-7
6 Remember, O LORD, your great mercy and love,
for they are from of old.
7 Remember not the sins of my youth
and my rebellious ways;
according to your love remember me,
for you are good, O Lord.
NIV
|
Ps 25:6-7
6 Remember, O LORD, thy tender mercies and thy lovingkindnesses; for they have been ever of old.
7 Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to thy mercy remember thou me for thy goodness' sake, O Lord.
KJV
|
Ps 25:6-7
6 Remember, O LORD, your compassion and unfailing love,
which you have shown from long ages past.
7 Do not remember the rebellious sins of my youth.
Remember me in the light of your unfailing love,
for you are merciful, O Lord.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation ®, copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.
|
Ps 25:6-7
6 Remember your mercy, O LORD, and your steadfast love,
for they have been from of old.
7 Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions;
according to your steadfast love remember me,
for the sake of your goodness, O Lord!
ESV
|
II. Don’t
Remember Who I Was or Am (v. 7a)
At the beginning of this portion of the study, I pondered on whether this verse referred to just youthful
transgressions or transgressions past and present. I consulted several
commentaries and found both views expounded.
It really doesn’t matter whether David is just speaking of past
sins of his youth, or his present sins as well. David is making a contrast with how
God acted in the past and the way he, David, has acted in the past. In light of
the covenant promises of blessings for obedience and cursing for disobedience,
David is asking for mercy and grace in light of Who God is. It is as if he is
saying: Lord remember Your past, not mine!
Barnes says:
[Remember not the sins of my youth] In strong contrast with God, the psalmist brings forward his own conduct and life. He could ask of God (Ps 25:6) to remember His own acts-what "He himself" had done; but could not ask him to remember HIS conduct-HIS past life. He could only pray that this might be forgotten.
(from Barnes' Notes, Electronic Database Copyright © 1997, 2003, 2005, 2006 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)
As I was struggling for a deeper meaning to this passage, I
remembered my discussion concerning the name of the LORD in Exodus 3:14. I
concluded that it conveys the meaning: “I will be what I always have been.” In
a former study, I also commented on this meaning in reference to God’s
immutability or unchangeableness. In contrast, I recognize that I am not. I am
frail and am subject often to my emotions and cave
into my temptations. Like David, I am
asking in light of God’s love and mercy and according to His goodness (and in
view of the cross upon which all forgiveness is based), not to be treated
according to what I have been, but according to what I am and will be in light
of God’s loving kindness and tender mercies showed
towards His elect (especially in the light of the cross!).
The good news is that,
while God shall be what He has always been, I will not be what I have always
been. No, I am being changed into the likeness of His Son. This is the promise
declared in the verses which follow the one I inserted as a poster picture in
my witness section above. Romans 8:29-30 contains this glorious promise:
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